Practicing Soldering

[thrashmonkey]

I am saving up to get a new electric and a decent amp, but do have my girls Ibanez Gio. I tend to play my acoustic since the Gio's jack is loose and it's not too inspiring. I'd like to start teaching myself how to solder. I'm planning on getting a cheap Soldering kit and want to practice before experimenting swapping pickups in the Gio. Whats the best way to go about that? Should I pick up some dirt cheap pickups and pots then practice soldering them? Sorry if this has already been covered. I did search, but didn't find any threads covering this.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Practicing Soldering

Get a 40 watt soldering iron, lead based solder and some practice wire. Start practicing by tinning the wire:

Practice until you are comfortable. Then try practicing on whatever pots and pickups you want. It's not too difficult if you learn how to follow a wire schematic and use a little patience at first.

 

[thrashmonkey]

Re: Practicing Soldering

Thanks!

 

[Davii]

Re: Practicing Soldering

You can get some ok adjustable soldering stations on eBay. Got one myself recently, and I'm not the greatest at soldering

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Practicing Soldering

Weller WLC100 is among the most popular entry level stations. They are about 40 bucks, 40 watts, adjustable temp. Not the best if you are going to be soldering a lot of pickup covers but workable. Perfect for the hobbyist who needs a soldering iron once in a while or just does basic stuff like soldering pickup leads and pots. If you want cheaper, MCM electronics has Tenma brand copy of the Weller for about $10 less. I cant vouch for it but I used a little bit higher end Tenma station for light production work and that station held up for over a dozen years before finally dying. I just bought a replacement a few months ago. As far as practice, watch some videos and practice soldering wire to wire, or wire to old pots, whatever electronic stuff you may have lying around. The key is a clean tip and enough heat applied quickly. Better hot and fast than not enough heat and slow. Of course, technique comes into play but that's what practice is for. No worries, it aint brain surgery.

 

[thrashmonkey]

Re: Practicing Soldering

Yeah I was looking at the Weller and thing I'm going to go with that when I get paid. I have plenty of old electronics that are either broken or hopelessly outdated so I'm going to watch the online tutorials and practice.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Practicing Soldering

Get a 40 watt soldering iron, lead based solder and some practice wire. Start practicing by tinning the wire:

Practice until you are comfortable. Then try practicing on whatever pots and pickups you want. It's not too difficult if you learn how to follow a wire schematic and use a little patience at first.

This.

 

[Progbusters]

Re: Practicing Soldering

just solder two loose wires together. large wires.

strip them
twist them together
tin the solder tip
heat the wires
touch the solder to the wires
let it flow over both the twisted wires

when you get better, work with smaller wires
and then to wires connected to pickups and stuff
and wires to a solid metal surface using the appropriate solder tip

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Practicing Soldering

Another tip ... I would stay away from the lead free solders. Go with a lead based solder. Generally speaking, lead based solder flows easier and faster with less heat (especially the rosin core 63/37 eutectic solders). Much less chance of overheating and much easier to work with, especially for someone new to soldering. Also, "silver solder" is generally a little more difficult to work with. My favorite solder for general purpose electronic work is Kester 44 (the 63/37, .031 diameter). But, just about any 63/37 (or 60/40) rosin core solder will get the job done and many are available in small tubes. .031 diameter or thereabouts is a good, general purpose size for soldering pickup wires and pots and other electronics work.

 

[Ratchet]

Re: Practicing Soldering

I always use the lead-free stuff that says, "silver" because I breathe so much of it when I solder stuff. Can't help it. Smells good too.

The biggest help ever is paste-flux. Slather that stuff all over everything, and the molten metals just flow. It took my soldering to the next level.

The other best thing I ever did was ditch the electric plug-in soldering things and got a butane Weller Pyropen®. Imagine soldering in a car - not having to use a wall outlet is a godsend for roadside repairs. Even in guitar cavities, not having ANY extra wires makes it a cleaner operation. I always ended up burning either the wall-cord, or the iron's corded lead with those home versions anyway.

I've had the same Weller Pyropen for 12 years now, and have never done anything except fill it with Butane (first releasing built-up pressure). I'm still on the same tip that came with it, as well as the heat-gun tip it came with.

I'd say it's my number one tool, out of a large rollaway box.

It wouldn't hurt to get a Multi-Meter, DVOM, DMM, whatever they're called these days. One that beeps at continuity is a convenient function. "Auto Ranging" is good, but a "Bar Graph" is better, on digital multi-meters. The "Bar Graph" gives it an analog visual representation. I've had my same multi-meter for 17 years, and never had a problem. It was $25 at Harbor Freight (top highest model, on sale), and it's a Fluke copy (no longer available, but their newer ones seems pretty cool and have even more features, for audio, like tone generator (maybe?), Sound Pressure Level meter (dB levels), Luminosity, temperature, etc. I'm talking about this one. (I upgraded my probes to a set of sharps and a set of beefy clips that a Fluke branded, because the wires feel better and are more flexible and soft)

They go together, like an electric guitar and an amp. You'll want some probe action when you're changing out the electricals in a guitar. Heat shrink tubing is also nice, but not needed when doing a guitar correctly and soldering directly to pots. With HST, you'll find a heat gun (or heat-gun-attachment on the Weller PyroPen®) more useful than a lighter, as lighters tend to charr your work and look rustic.

Get flux though. It'll make your connections stick like poop on a shingle. It begins to bubble and boil, sizzling like quiet bacon on a stove. Then you know it's ready to flow. It soaks up the solder like a thirsty fish. It'll sizzle and pop into your eyes and burn your eyeballs, so wear eye goggles and an LED headlamp (Fenix HL-55 ROCKS, it's my #1) to illuminate your work area. Yes, your solder is flux-cored, but you'll need a flux capacitor for time-travel. :cool2: